Coupling



T. WEBER.

COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 6. I921.

Patented Mar. 28, 1922 IN V EN TOR.

7519/05 IVE/98f A TTORNEYS.

N TED STATES fronr'as wmsniaornos new, canironnm. I

' courLme.

To alt whom itmdy concern) Beit known that I, Tomas Wnnniga citi- 'zenof the United States, and resident of a fragment of a draw-bar; Fig. 2is a verti- Los Angeles,li n"the' county of Los Angeles, Stateof'California, have invented new and useful Improvements in a Coupling,of which the following is a specification r This invention relates to acoupling adapted to'connect trailers. It is'usual'to provide trailers attheir front ends withdraw-bars havingv eyes and, attherear thereof withhooks with which the draw-barof the following trailer may be engaged.Likewise, the rear of the tractor is provided with a hook. It is theprimary object of this invention to provide the hook with a guard ofnovel construction to prevent disengagement of the hook and eye, and,furthermore, to

provide details of structure, wherebyv the guard is positively held inopen and closed positions as desired. 1

These objects will be more fully understood from the following detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment of. my in-' vention. For thepurpose of this description, reference is had to the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Fig.1 is a perspectiveview of a hook and cal central section through thehook; and Fig. 3 is a section as seen: on the line 3-3 of Fi 2. i

Ref erring more particularly to Figs. -1

and 2, a fragment of the rear of an automo-- bile is indicated by A.Secured thereto is the hook B, to which a draw-bar C attached to thefront end of a vehicle is secured.

Referring more especially to the hook, it comprises a base plate 4 forattachment to the body or frame by means of bolts 5 or other suitablemeans. Formed on the base plate and outstanding therefrom is a hook 6.Overhangin the hook is a bifurcated bracket portion% serving as amounting for the guard. A stop 8 bridges the arm of the bracket andserves to limit the movement of the hook. The forward end of the brackethas a bearing formed therein for the reception of a pivot shaft 9, towhich a guard 10 is fixed. This guard is of fan shape and isvSpecification.of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 28, 1922.

muses; am July a, 192i. Se riaI N'o. 482,653.

For convenientoperation of theguard in opening the hook to release thedraw-bar, the shaft 9 has lateral extensions 11 at its ends forming ahandle convenient for grasping and lifting the' guard. They are alsodisposed in such a position that their weight assists in keeping theguard closed by gravity.v

Formed on one of the arms of the bracket is a boss 12 having a springpressed detent pin 11 disposed therein'and held in position by a plug 17closing the bore.

Formed on one side of the guard is an arcuate channel 18 of such len hthat the detent pin 14 will be disposed t erein when the guard closesthe hook and when it is opened with its lower edge in alinement with thelower edge of the hook bracket. This position is obtained when the uardis forced inwardly by pressing upon its lower edge. The channel is ofsuch depth that pin 14 in its outermost position will not engage thewall thereof. Thus, the guard is free to swing from open to closedposition without an resistance from the detent pin. Beyond t e' loweredge of thechannel 18 is a recess 19 disposed to receive the f of thedetent pin when the lower outer edge of the guard is swung beyond themout hook.

In order to hold the guard positively in closed position, I have mountedupon the back of the base a leaf spring 20, to the upper end of which issecured a catch 21.

The catch 21 is so arranged that it will and force the catch 21 intodisengaged position.

The hook and its guard are normally in the position shown in Fig. 1. Ifit is desired to move the draw-bar from engagement with the hook touncouple the trailers, one of the handles'24 "is grasped and turnedsothat catch 21 is moved to disengaged position. Then one of the handles11 is grasped and the uard lifted to permit removal of the eye ar. Ifit"is desired to hold the guard in open position, it is swung to thelimit of its movement so that detent pin'14 engages the recess19. Theguard will then be-heldinits open position until the detent' is forcedout of the'recess by pressing down the hook.

What I claim is: 1. A coupling member comprising a hook,

'droppedby gravity to its position closing a guard forclosing the mouthof said hook, said guard havin a sha'ft secured thereto pivotally-mounteon said hook and forminga handle for manipulating the guard,

and a leaf spring carrying a catch disposed to engage the top of saidguard'and hold the latter in closed position.

. 2. A coupling member comprising a hook,

a guard for closing the mouth of said hook,

said guard having a shaftsecured thereto pivotally mounted on said'hook"and form ing ahmdle for'manipulat'ing the guard; a

leaf spring on-said hookhaving acatch dis posed to engage thetop of saidguard, and

manually operable means to engage saidleaf spring and force said'catehfrornfengaging position.

In witness have hereunto subscribed my n me this 29th day of June, 1921.I

p 'TOBIA'S WEBER, v

that'I claim the foregoing 1"" 40

